Telecommunications systems, cable television systems, and data communication networks use communication networks to rapidly exchange large amounts of information between remote points. A communication network may include network elements that route analog or digital signals, data, including packets through the network. In an optical network, information is conveyed in the form of optical signals through optical conduits, such as fibers. Networks, including optical networks often employ redundancies to maximize performance and availability. Such redundancies may include the monitoring of a primary network path, and the switchover of network traffic from the primary path to a secondary path (e.g., a protection path) if the primary path fails to meet one or more network performance criteria.
Communications networks are often configured as an Optical Transport Network (OTN) as defined by ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Recommendations G.709 and G.798, and a plurality of related standards as referenced by the said recommendations. A particular OTN may include a plurality of network elements for carrying traffic between two or more clients. The G.709 and G.798 standards allow for delay measurements along a path from a first network element to a second network element, and from the second network element back to the first network element.